1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film end holder for a photographic printer and more particularly to a film end holder which is attached to a photographic printer to prevent a developed photographic film from coming into contact with the floor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Minilabs which include a photographic film processor and a photographic printer are well known. In such a device, the photographic film is pulled out of a cassette developed by the film processor, and subsequently is subjected to a printing process by the printer.
The printer has a compact main body and a work table which is mounted to the front of the main body and provided with a film carrier. The main body has an exposure section and a developing section. An exposure opening is formed in the film carrier. In printing, the leading end of the developed photographic film is inserted into the film carrier, which then feeds the developed photographic film to position frames thereof one by one at the exposure opening to print the images of the frames onto a color paper in a sequential manner.
The entire length of the developed photographic film is often longer than the height of the work table and the width of the printer. Therefore, when printing several frames located in the leading or trailing ends portions of the developed photographic film, the other opposite end portion of the film hangs down from the work table onto the floor. As a result, the opposite portion is subjected to dust and scratches may be formed thereon.
In view of the above problem, there was introduced a clamp device as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,831 (corresponding to Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 1-222251). The clamp device consists of a roller for pressing and end portion of a developed photographic film with its own weight and a bracket for supporting the roller so as to rotate and move up and down. The bracket is attached to a work table. The roller presses the end portion of the developed photographic film to loop the photographic film to make the length of the developed photographic film less than half the entire length of the developed photographic film. However, such a device is complex and expensive.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,371 discloses an L-shaped clamp arm attached rotatably to a work table. A portion of the clamp arm presses an end portion of a developed photographic film to form a loop. The end portion of the developed photographic film slips off the clamp arm when the loop is gone. This clamp device requires an exclusive work table, similar to the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,831. Therefore, it cannot be used with printers now in operation.